Falcons Close Out Season at SSAC Championships

GULF SHORES, Ala. - The men's and women's track and field teams recently finished another successful season at the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships.

Several program records were set throughout the season, with five of them taking place at the last meet. 

Eli DeGeneffe improved on his previous record and finished out his freshman season with a 200m dash time of 23.3. He contributed to two more program records in the 4x100 and 4x400, with Steven Ritchie, John Cook, and Jack Bradford (4x100) and Easton Dial, Cook and Bradford (4x400).

Bradford, Ritchie, Cook and Dial also secured the first spot in the 4x800 with a combined time of 8:11.58.

Ritchie closed out the field events with a program record in the javelin after throwing it 136'06".

Plenty of female athletes moved up into the Top 10 of their event in the last meet as well. Sophia Raif took the third spot in the 200m dash after running a 29.92, securing a personal record. She also earned the seventh spot in the 400m hurdles. 

Whitney Mathis took the fifth spot in the steeplechase with a time of 14:46.22, also a personal best. She was a foot short of her program record in the javelin, throwing as far as 56'10".

"I was very pleased with how our team performed, as we had many athletes set personal bests as well as set new school records.  I was especially impressed with our 4x800 relay team breaking the old school record by 28 seconds and Eli DeGeneffe jumping almost 41 feet in the triple jump to place 7th," said Head Coach Trenton Roth. "Carlie Gainer had her two best races ever, and many of our throwers PR'ed in the javelin (Steven Ritchie, Jacob Lopez, Gustav Looper, Ty Willingham), shot put (Austin Roberts) and discus (Kyler Fox). Overall, it was a very satisfying conclusion to our season."